It has been said that people do not want tablets, they want iPads.
For years, Amazon.com Inc, the online retail giant, has been trying to change that.
The company’s latest effort comes in a refresh of its Kindle tablets and e-readers, announced on Wednesday evening, with a set of internal hardware improvements and updated software features that Amazon hopes will woo new crowds to its line of devices.
Amazon’s strategy is to broaden its target market by offering a greater number of devices.
Take the updated Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 tablet. It now includes a powerful 2.5GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm Inc and comes with the WPS Office app, essentially a way to create and edit documents from the tablet. The app is integrated with Amazon’s Cloud Drive, which backs up documents on Amazon’s servers. Amazon has also built a Fire Keyboard, which connects wirelessly to the HDX 8.9 tablet via Bluetooth.
The aim here, it seems, is to go after the segment of the market that wants to use a tablet as a workstation, instead of toting around a laptop. In other words, it is the same audience that Microsoft has tried to court with its Surface tablet.
“We have all the power and performance you need to multitask,” said Jonathan Oakes, a director of product management for Amazon, at a media event on Wednesday. “Now we are just making it easier to switch between all the things people want to do.”
The HDX will cost US$379, which is about the same price as Microsoft Corp’s Surface RT, depending on which model you buy.
However, modeling the new Kindle on the Surface is questionable, as the Surface has hardly flown off the shelves. Microsoft took a US$900 million write-down on unsold Surface RTs last year.
For what it is worth, the HDX also comes with a sound system upgrade, courtesy of Dolby, as well as improved graphics processing and a better display, which could appeal to media-hungry consumers. So it is not all about business.
Amazon is not just targeting adults. The Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition, for instance, is aimed at the opposite end of the market.
For US$149, Amazon offers an updated 6-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet with front and rear-facing cameras, an improved display and a better microprocessor. It also comes in an array of colors, much like Apple’s iPods.
However, the unique selling point is the guarantee that comes with the device. Up to two years after purchase, if the tablet gets broken, Amazon will replace it The shockproof rubber case that comes in the package will probably help protect against that too.
The device also allows for full access to “FreeTime Unlimited,” Amazon’s child-friendly section of videos, apps and games.
So for about US$50 more than the cost of a new Kindle Fire HD, the buyer is essentially purchasing an extended warranty for an impressive child’s toy.
Finally, for those who just want to read on their tablet, Amazon has updated its classic line of e-readers. The refresh includes a new US$79 Kindle — the lowest-price option — as well as a new high-end model, the Voyage, a thin, lightweight reader with an improved front light and touch-screen capability. The Voyage is not cheap; at US$199, it is Amazon’s most expensive e-reader.
Amazon’s fall line comes months before the holiday season, when manufacturers like Samsung Electronics Co, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Apple Inc will all push their tablets heavily on gift-seekers.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS